If you find a good match to a cartridge, it will sound fine. Maybe some other VPI fans here can suggest a good choice. For me, unless the tonearm is grossly bad in terms of design and build, the important thing is that match to a cartridge.
VPI Fatboys versus others in its' tonearm weight class.
In their never ending quest to push fiscally responsible audiophiles into bankruptcy, site members have succeeded in making me consider a new gimbaled tonearm to keep a Lyra Kleos company on a VPI Classic 2 turntable. Dover, on my previous thread, pointed out most other tonearm options would be limited on the Classic 2 short of major surgery to it. So here I am considering keeping the tonearm upgrade in the VPI family. Their gimbaled Fatboy, will readily fit onto the VPI Classic 2’s tonearm base without any fuss.
Here’s my question after reading up on the Fatboy. How does the Fatboy compare with other tonearms in it’s $4500 price range? Is it about average in that class, which would be acceptable, or is it much better or worse than its’ peers?. If you.ve had any chance to compare the Fatboy with other tonearms in the same price range, what is your impression? I don’t want to spend that much money on one if the consensus is that it’s at the bottom of its class, which hopefully it isn’t.
I haven’t had an opportunity to listen to one, or any other tonearm as expensive. I would likely need to arrange a two day road trip to accomplish that. In lieu, I’m soliciting your impressions as to whether the Fatboy is worth that much compared to others in it’s price range. I guessing it will be okay, but don’t want to spend $4500 if the consensus is it’s at the bottom of its’ class just because it fits easily on my turntable. So what do you think? I’m all ears.
I’m not looking here for alternative solutions to a Fatboy. That was the topic of my recent thread, I’m only soliciting your impressions of the Fatboy compared to other similarly priced tonearms, and why I should or shouldn’t take a chance on it. Thanks all,
Mike
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Lewm, the more I look into it, the more the VPI Fatboy seems to be the logical choice. I’ve emailed VPI a week ago to see if they feel the Fatboy is compatible with the Lyra Kleos cartridge I have on order, but haven’t heard back yet. I think I read a Lyra cartridge was used to demo the Fatboy at an audio show when first introduced. But I would like to get that match confirmed by them with the current iteration of the gimbaled Fatboy. They offer the Fatboy in three different lengths, 9’, !0" and 12".. It would be nice if they answered to be able to figure out which to choose. Mike |
I’ve had my share of VPI tables and have upgraded arms within the brand BUT never got to a fat boy—only to a hot rod version of the 3D gimble. That said, in my experience the two most significant changes you can make sonically is going 3D from aluminum and going gimbal from unipivot. IME the 3D arm provides a much smoother and more natural sound than the aluminum tube. This is very easy to hear and welcome. The gimbal arm is easier to handle but does not extract as much detail from the grooves, leaving some realism on the table. If it were me and I had the table in the pictures you provided I’d slap the Kleos on the existing arm and see what happens before changing the arm. Part of the fun is in the learning so see what a nice cart does compared to your Ortofon Quintet Red which is vastly inferior to the Lyra. |
Dodgealum, when it arrives, I’ll be putting the Lyra Kleos on my current tonearm. The VPI Fatboy is going to be a future purchase for budgetary reasons. Thanks for describing the way the sound improved with your 3D arm. the Fatboy likely delivers more of the same since it’s also 3D printed, along with other improvements. I read one review that said the same thing you described with your 3D unipivot arm. That is there is a more detailed performance than you ger with the gimbaled arm, With the gimbaled Fatboy the trade off is described is a more solid base response than you get with he unipivot. Guess you can’t have both.. Did your 3D come with a choice of arm lengths? I was reading up yesterday on why you might chose one length over the other of the three different lengths VPI offers the Fatboy in of 9", !0" or 12". It’s another complexity to try and understand. Mike |
@skyscraper , measure the distance from the spindle to the center of the VTA tower. If it is anywhere near 222 mm you are in business. Even if not, you have a very thick platter and there is loads of space to mount an accessory arm board. The unit I saw had one mounted. If you want to mount another tonearm it is child's play to do so, it not then we can end this thread here. |
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